Time and Time Again
by Sede2113
Summary: Lily Evans is like any other girl in love with James Potter. He's seduced her, slept with her and dumped her. 4 times. She's a flirt and James is. . . James. Lily falls for it every time and is heartbroken afterwards. But now she's tired of it and is goin
1. Not Again

Ch 1 -  
  
Summary: Lily Evans is like any other girl in love with James Potter. He seduced her, slept with her and dumped her. Four times. She's a flirt and James is. . . James. She falls for it every single time and is heartbroken afterwards. And now she's sick and tired of it and its all going to change. 7th year.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
She had done it again. This was the fourth time. How could she have been so stupid? Again.  
  
But when he looked at her with his melt-your-heart eyes and sexy smile you gave in straight away. Everyone did. A week ago he had approached her in the common room and apologised and said he didn't know why he dumped her because he knew that he loved her. Lily hesitated for only a second before agreeing to go out with him.  
  
Again.  
  
Last night he had got her into bed because he said he was going to make this time special. Special her ass. When she had woken up in the morning he had gone and she went down to the common room to find him. It was around 11 am. Well she found him, then he dumped her in front of everyone. The thing was she still loved him.  
  
Now here she was, 2 hours later and still sitting on her bed with tear- stained eyes. Just like every other time he had dumped her.  
  
Every time he dumped her she would vow to hate him and never talk to him. Well it worked, until she saw him again.  
  
She heard a knock on the door and drew her curtains, not wanting to face anyone after being publicly embarrassed by James.  
  
"Lily?" a familiar voice called.  
  
Lily smiled slightly, she should have known. She opened the curtains to show the pity-filled face of her best friend, Sky.  
  
"I'm so sorry honey, he's such a jerk." Sky said gently, sitting down beside her and giving her a hug. Lily sniffed, feeling the tears well up again. It was funny how you thought you had cried everything out and then someone came along to comfort you and you let even more out.  
  
The door burst open and an angry-looking brunette girl strode in. Lily smiled at her other best friend, Lea, who had surely heard now too.  
  
"That. . . that. . . prickified. . . prickified prick!" Lea shouted as she came and swept Lily into a giant hug. Lea had also lost her virginity with James and hated his guts and unlike Lily, would always manage to because of her strong will power. Everyone knew she hated James, even James himself. She was always yelling at him, but not for dumping her, just for completely random reasons. Lea wasn't beautiful but she was a face you would look twice at because it had so much character. A very strong face that you would remember for a while afterwards. Exactly like her personality.  
  
Sky, on the other hand, didn't hate James but didn't like him. She was one of the few girls that hadn't lost her virginity with James, actually one of the few girls who hadn't lost her virginity. She wasn't as strong as Lea but was a very sweet person that you could always count on. She wasn't beautiful either but had one of those naturally pretty faces that was always nice to look at. Sky was a bit more quiet than Lily and Lea but they adored her anyway. When she was with them she was a lot more confident.  
  
Lea had let go of Lily and was now marching around the room muttering to herself and Lily could catch occasional phrases like "Jerk. . . Innocence stealer. . . going to be hearing from me. . ."  
  
Sky shook her head in amusement at Lea and turned back to Lily.  
  
"Why do you keep going back to him Lils? You know he's just going to hurt you." Sky said.  
  
"Yeah, and this is like what - the third time?" Lea stopped and added, before resuming pacing the room again.  
  
"Fourth," Lily said sadly.  
  
Sky and Lea exchanged raised eyebrows over Lily's head. They warned her every single time but she never listened to them.  
  
Lily moaned and lent on Sky's shoulder, her eyes dry and sore.  
  
"Why oh why am I always so stupid? And I know you too are looking at eachother and thinking the same thing so don't bother to hide it from me." Lily said, closing her eyes.  
  
"We certainly are! We're right every time and we never say 'we told you so'. But now you deserve it so. . . I told you so!" Lea said, coming to sit down in front of them on the floor.  
  
Lily opened her eyes a slit and saw Lea making a face at her. She bit her tongue but couldn't help but grin at Lea. Lea could always make her smile.  
  
"That's right. Its time you listened to us young lady," Lea said, sticking her tongue out at Lily. Lily stuck her tongue out back at her and was rewarded with a smack on the face with a pillow. Sky giggled.  
  
"Olch, youl mald mle blite mly tlongue," Lily said.  
  
"Oh well, it builds character." Lea replied, her eyes dancing.  
  
Sky picked up a pillow and threw it at Lea. Lea shrieked and pointed her finger at her.  
  
"You! You're supposed to be on my side!"  
  
Sky laughed and said "There are no sides in pillow fights!"  
  
"True," admitted Lea, before firing one back at Sky.  
  
Lily watched them, her mood lightening. What would she do without these two?  
  
Lea had cornered Sky behind the bed and was shooting the pillows at her with her wand.  
  
"Get over here Lily, this pillow fight is in your name!" Sky shouted, fending of a wickedly grinning Lea.  
  
"Alright alright, but you know I always win." Lily said jokingly, heaving herself up.  
  
"She was rewarded by 2 pillows in the stomach, one from Lea and the other from Sky.  
  
"Beat that then Pillow Queen!" Lea yelled triumphantly.  
  
Some ten minutes later they collapsed on Lily's bed, giggling madly. In the end they had ganged up on Lea and after she yelled about the unfairness of that while dodging pillows, she bewitched one of the bed mattresses on top of them. Then she jumped on top of it, ignoring their cries about giving up.  
  
"That. . . was so. . . NOT. . . a pillow!" Sky gasped, holding her stomach.  
  
"Sure it was, just abnormally sized," Lea joked poking her in the leg.  
  
Lily heard a roar from the grounds and sat up; startled.  
  
"What was that?" she asked.  
  
"Oh - it's the Quidditch remember? Ravenclaw against Gryffindor."  
  
"Hope Gryffindor loses," Lily said moodily, "It may bring that fuckwit's ego down just a bit."  
  
"Now you know you don't mean that. Besides it means we get the common room to ourselves!" Sky said.  
  
"I have the best idea!" Lea exclaimed. Lily and Sky looked at eachother knowingly, Lea's 'ideas' were never that fantastic.  
  
"I say we should go down to the kitchens, grab a whole heap of food and come back and eat it all in the common room and bitch about people!" Lea went on.  
  
"Wow Lea, that's the best idea you've come up with. . . ever!" Sky said with total seriousness.  
  
"I try."  
  
"Not very hard though. You still haven't started that Potions essay, remember the mark you got last time?" Sky reprimanded her.  
  
"Oh well. What use is Potions going to be in the future anyway? NADA!" Sky rolled her eyes and poked Lea in the leg again, giving up on her.  
  
"You should start working on it too Lils, its going to be on the test and you haven't even looked at it yet!" Sky turned on Lily.  
  
Lily shook her head at her friend in amusement. Sky was always after them to do schoolwork.  
  
"She's too busy flirting with every guy that walks her way, you should know that Sky!" Lea said only half jokingly.  
  
"You guys! You're supposed to be cheering me up! I was just dumped by my someone I still love!" Lily protested.  
  
"Yeah so deeply in love you still manage to flirt with any male that walks on 2 legs." Lea said sarcastically, getting up and stretching.  
  
"That's just for fun! You know I've loved James ever since I first saw him!" Lily protested again. It was true. She had first caught sight of James in her first year, and had tripped over someone's trunk. Being only 11, she wasn't sure what else to do but love him from afar.  
  
Slowly she had earned a reputation for being a major flirt. But not in a bad way, she knew she was not that hard on the eyes to look at, she was popular and had 2 fantastic friends from the moment she had met them on the train in 1st year. James had asked her out in 6th year and since then he had asked her out 3 more times. And every time she would sleep with him and he would dump her soon after.  
  
But she never got over him, even when going out with other guys she still got that feeling whenever she looked at him. Lea and her had fought for a while when James dumped her and started going out with Lea 2 weeks later. Lily didn't talk to Lea until Lea slept with him and James dumped her. Then they both said they hated him and would never do it again. Well, at least Lea had told the truth.  
  
"So, who's coming with me to get our bitching strengtheners?" Lea asked while walking towards the door.  
  
"You mean food?" Sky said, grinning.  
  
"That too," Lea joked.  
  
"I'll stay here with Lily, I know she doesn't want to go out." Sky offered and smiled when Lily gave her a look of thanks.  
  
"Fine but that means I get to pick the food!" Lea yelled as she slid down the staircase. They heard the portrait door open and swing shut a few seconds later.  
  
"That girl is mental," Sky laughed.  
  
Lily smiled but didn't laugh. She was feeling sad again.  
  
Sky caught the look and said, "I know it hurts but you always get over it."  
  
"No that's the thing - I don't. I think I do but when I see him I know I haven't."  
  
"Well you're still too good for him." Sky said, standing up and walking towards the door.  
  
"I hate being in love with him Sky! I hate it I hate it I HATE IT!" Lily punched her pillow.  
  
"Well if I was in love with someone I wouldn't hate it because love is an amazing feeling," Sky said thoughtfully, pausing at the door to face Lily.  
  
"Not if they don't return the love, then its just a painful love that you hate. And where are you going?" Lily asked, coming out of her misery slightly.  
  
"Well we're not going to stuff ourselves in here are we? The common room is much better for that sort of thing." Sky smiled.  
  
Lily nodded in agreement and got up. She heard another roar from the Quidditch pitch and couldn't help but glance out the window quickly. Someone had obviously scored a goal and Lily didn't have to guess that the figure flying around triumphantly was James. [a/n I don't remember if James was a Seeker or something else but in this fic he's a Chaser! Got it? Get it? Good.]  
  
She sighed. Lily was a live life to the full girl, but she did have rules. She never had long-term relationships, always had fun, always flirted, loved surprises and never wanted to be held down by love.  
  
But those rules never seemed to work with James, unlike with any other guy.  
  
She followed Sky out to the common room and they plopped down on the huge cozy armchairs. There was a fire going because the rooms were somehow charmed to become cool during summer and sometimes when it got a little too cool the fire would start up.  
  
"Any money that we win?" Sky asked.  
  
Lily was spared answering by a loud crash coming from the portrait hole. They heard a holler and a few more slightly smaller crashes.  
  
"Trust Lea," said Lily, snickering.  
  
Sky had sprung up out of her seat and was running over to the portrait hole. She opened it and Lea toppled in as food went rolling everywhere.  
  
"There's more. . . stuff. . . stuff outside," Lea panted from the ground, looking up at Sky. Sky bent down and helped her up off the floor and they began picking up food.  
  
Lily walked past them into the hall and saw even more food scattered down the corridor. It looked like Lea hadn't noticed she was making an incriminating trail of food on her way up to the tower. She smiled to herself and picked up all the food she could see before returning to the common room.  
  
"Fat, fat, and more fat!" Sky was exclaiming when Lily walked in.  
  
"Fat is such a strong word, I prefer to call it dumplingish." Lea grinned, knowing her friend wasn't obsessed with her weight, but thought health food was the ONLY food.  
  
"You're impossible," Sky said, giving up.  
  
"You got that right, she left a great trial of food all the way up here." Lily said, dumping all the food on the rest of the pile.  
  
"I meant to do that - in case any one else wanted to join the party!" Lea said as if it her perfectly obvious. She sat down on the floor and started gobbling up an éclair.  
  
"So Lils, who's the next boyfriend of the week going to be. You know, you're really just as bad as James." Lea said, still chewing.  
  
"I am not! I don't sleep with all of them like he does!" Lily said adamantly, chucking a lemon tart at her which missed and hit the chair.  
  
"Yeah, only ¾," Sky joked, picking her doughnut carefully, as if to see if she could actually see the fat on it.  
  
"Speaking of James, the game should be finished by now, or at least almost." Lea said.  
  
"Crap! What about all this food?" Sky said worriedly.  
  
"Let's just say that we decided to get the victory party going early." Lily suggested.  
  
She heard a whoop and some yells that seemed to be coming closer. Yup, the game was finished and guessing by the cheering they had most likely won.  
  
Just don't think about James, just don't think about James Lily said to herself over and over again.  
  
Yeah right.  
  
They came barging in; screaming, yelling, singing, cheering. Sky grimaced but looked happy all the same while Lea looked like she was in her element. Lily remained on the couch, waiting and not waiting for that certain person to walk through the door.  
  
There he was. Looking amazing in his Quidditch robes as usual.  
  
Lily stopped and tried not to cry. There was some 6th year tart hanging onto his arm, giggling and blushing like some 10 year old, looking up at James like he was a god. And James was taking it all in, his arm around her waist and talking animatedly. No doubt about him winning the game.  
  
That shit.  
  
This was the worst he had ever done. 5 days was the record for him chatting up someone else. Now it was barely 3 bloody hours later and he had already found someone else.  
  
She was a lot fucking better than that. No one did that to Lily Evans, not even James. She loved him, couldn't he even respect that the tiniest bit?  
  
Okay, first thing she needed to do was find some potential. She scanned the room critically, searching for someone she could use. Her eyes landed on the body of Mark Vega. Excellent, Gryffindor Seeker and very sexy. A tad thick, but the perfect male nonetheless.  
  
Hmm, well she couldn't look like this if she wanted a date. She ran up to the bedroom and threw on some hipster jeans and a tight red singlet top. She quickly touched up her face and walked down the stairs. Quite a few heads turned her way, yes she knew she was pretty gorgeous. James now had to be ignored.  
  
She grabbed some extra strong undiluted Butterbeer and sauntered up to Mark.  
  
"Hey there," she whispered in his ear.  
  
He turned around, a surprised expression on his innocently cute face. He smiled when he saw her and turned around completely.  
  
"Hi."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Score, Lily thought as she brushed her teeth. It hadn't taken long for Mark to ask her out on the next Hogsmeade visit, he seemed to want to take her now. She grinned, remembering the surprised look on James when she kissed Mark goodnight.  
  
She felt bad about using Mark, but it had to be done. Her obsession with a Mr. Potter was getting out of hand and maybe, just maybe, having this long term relationship with Mark might be just the thing she needed to fall out of love with James.  
  
Lily smiled, yes, this was going to be her first ever long term relationship and it was going to shock everyone.  
  
~~ Hehe. I really hope you like it. I'm going to try and make it a different l/j fic. It may not seem like it now, but you'll see. I just want you to know that if you keep reading you'll be surprised, I don't like to give away things but I don't want people to get the wrong idea. All I'm going to say is that the fourth time wont be the last time (I know you're thinking they fall in love on the 5th time but no you're wrong! This is what makes Lily REALLY change so keep reading to find out Oh and start feeling sorry for Mark - he's going to need it.~~  
  
[oh and I may not be able to update for a tiny bit because I have to finish my other fic first, but that shouldn't be too long now no matter how long people who've read it think its going to be]  
  
NOW REVIEW MY FELLOW FANFICTIONERS! 


	2. A Bit of a Crush

**Ch 2 – **

**[a/n Wow I never expected that many reviews for one chapter! Thank you so much everyone, it made my day. I regret to say I will not be updating this fic for a while after this as I am heavily into the sequel to my HG fic. NOTE: No matter what happens, no matter how much time passes, no matter what I do, I will DEFINITELY finish this fic- there is no way I could not. But I am sorry to all those who will be disappointed at this. I promise that I will get straight on this fic as soon as the one I am currently working on is finished. To the people who are awaiting the sequel of WAM: Give me one and a half more weeks and you shall have ch 1. Also thanks in advance for the people who are still with me on this fic even though I haven't updated in half a million years.]**

            ~*~*~*~*~*

_I wanted so badly somebody other than me_

_Staring back at me but you were gone_

_I wanted to see you walking backwards_

_And get the sensation of you coming home_

_I wanted to see you walking away from me_

_Without the sensation of you leaving me alone_

_Time and time again_

_Time and time again_

**Counting Crows – Time and Time Again**

**            ~*~*~*~*~***

"Have you heard?"

"What?"

"Lily Evans is going out with Mark Vega!"

"Are you serious?"

"I just saw her kiss him in the hall!"

"Oh my gosh! I have to tell Kate!"

Lily was just as famous as James and people knew it. People weren't just gossiping about who James's current girlfriend was, but who Lily's boyfriend was too. The first time they had gone out people had been talking about it and somehow it had spread that they had slept together after their very first date (although Lily had to admit it was true) but she had no idea how people had found that out. 

By the time she had gotten up this morning just about everyone in Hogwarts knew that Mark and she were the new "it couple". Sure, she loved the limelight but not 24/7. When she had stepped into the hall this morning whispers had immediately broken out and people could be seen staring and giving each other knowing looks. James had been oblivious to this and was busy entertaining the sixth year from last night while Sirius was "occupied" with a Ravenclaw seventh year while sitting down and the girl didn't seem to notice that her hair was dipping into a bowl of cereal.

Lily stiffened when she felt some arms go around her and turned around sharply only to see the smiling face of Mark. He blushed a little as he held out a pale pink rose for her. Lily inwardly thought that was a bit over the top for only going out twelve hours but it was still sweet and she accepted it with a gentle smile.

"Thanks, I missed you last night," she whispered softly.

"I missed you too, I was wondering-"

"Ohhhhh Lily!" Lea yelled from her seat at the end of the Gryffindor table. Lily waved and turned back to Mark.

"See you soon. . ." she said and headed over to Lea and Sky. Mark looked after her longingly before taking a seat at the table, shooting glances at her every so often.

Lea was talking to Sirius (who had stopped kissing the Ravenclaw) about something and they were both laughing uproariously. It probably had something to do with Severus Snape suddenly realising that he now had webbed hands and couldn't pick anything up. Lily rolled her eyes; Lea and Sirius were the best of friends ever since they had first met on the train all those years ago. They had played a trick on Sky because they had never met her at the time and the opportunity was too good to miss. For while after that prank Lea and Sky had been enemies, but they kept finding it hard because they were both close friends with Lily. But slowly Sky had forgiven Lea and they had become best friends. Although Sky had never forgiven Sirius and still never talked to him unless forced. 

But Lea and Sirius had the same type of personality and got along fantastically. They could always be seen together thinking up a prank to play on unsuspecting Slytherins – or anyone for that matter. It had always surprised people that they had never actually gone out on a date, and they had always remained just friends.

"I'm guessing you hexed our good friend Severus?" Lily commented as she walked up to them.

"It was just too good to miss Lil, and he _still_ hasn't realised it was us!" Lea exclaimed and she burst into laughter again as Snape dropped his glass of pumpkin juice on a very angry looking Slytherin.

"Plus he hexed me in Potions; I couldn't stop singing everything I said for an hour!" Sirius added, his eyes darkening when he recalled the incident.

"Yes but wasn't that because you conjured up a wind around him that lifted up his robes?" 

"Hey, it wasn't my fault he picked that exact day to wear baggy grey underwear!" Sirius said indignantly, but his eyes were laughing. Lily grinned and flapped her hand at him, giving up. She went and took a seat next to Sky, who was busy ruffling through her Charms book.

"Forgot huh?" Lily asked as she grabbed some toast.

"All about it, I hope this cramming will be enough." Sky replied, frantically running her finger down a page.

"Why cram? Just go with the flow," Lily said simply.

"That's easy for you to say, you manage to pass every test. Maybe not with flying colours but you can always pass." Sky complained, pulling at a strand of hair.

"Sky what's wrong with you lately?" Lily asked. "You've been acting strange these past few weeks, like you're hiding something."

Sky stiffened and took a breath. She smiled lightly and said, "Like I could keep anything from you guys. Don't worry Lils, it's just school getting to me."

Lily looked at her but didn't argue, knowing Sky would tell her when she was ready.

Lea sat down next to them, still grinning.

"I don't know why you're friends with him," Sky informed her, wrinkling her nose.

"I don't know why you're not," Lea retorted, looking over at Sirius and nodding at something he said in some secret sign language only they could understand.

"Because of what he - or rather _both_ of you did to me."

"Yes but that's all in the past, you've forgiven me." Lea said winningly, taking some of Sky's toast.

"Yes I've forgiven _you_, not him." Sky sniffed, glaring over at Sirius, who was totally oblivious to the fact that if looks could kill he would be dead.

"Ah look, it's the apple of your eye," Lea teased Sky as Amos Diggory walked into the Hall. Sky had sat up suddenly and couldn't stop looking at Amos with quick nervous glances. They had been going out for five weeks now yet Sky never seemed that thrilled. Lea and Lily exchanged glances warily, they both disliked Diggory immensely and often voiced this to Sky herself. 

"Good morning." Sky said in a timid voice to her boyfriend, shrinking away slightly. Lily raised an eyebrow at this. 

"I didn't see you last night." Amos said, staring at her calculatedly.

"I was tired." Sky said, but she refused to meet his gaze.

"I have to go, see you later." Amos said, like he was talking to a wall that he didn't expect to answer him but decided to try anyway.

"Bye. . ." Sky trailed off, pushing her toast around the plate.

"Sky I love you, but can't you do any better than Diggory?" Lea asked.

"Lea! She didn't mean it that way hun, we just think you deserve better than him," Lily said, shooting Lea a glare, who just stuck out her tongue.

"That's basically the same thing," Sky pointed out, her eyes still on her boyfriend.

"So have you done it yet?" Lea asked curiously.

"No, I wanted to wait and he isn't pushing me. So stop telling me to dump him because he is really . . .sweet to me." Sky said, but her two friends didn't see the darkness in her eyes as she said this.

"Sky. . ." Lily sighed. 

"I'm going to class." Sky said in a final tone, picking up her bag and striding out of the Hall. She blinked back a single tear threatening to fall down her cheek.

"Should we tell her?" Lea asked as they watched their friend leave, all merriment gone from her eyes. 

"No, no. It would break her heart." Lily objected doubtfully, looking at Mark who was staring at her for what seemed to be the fourteenth time in five minutes. 

"It would break her heart to see Diggory cheating on her too!" Lea shouted passionately, lowering her voice when the fifth years across from them looked at her in confusion.

"I know he's a bastard but. . ." Lily trailed off, her mind focusing on a certain Quidditch player instead of her friend. Lea rolled her eyes, seeing the object of Lily's gaze.

"Lily snap out of it!" Lea exclaimed, clicking her fingers in Lily's face. 

"Hmm?" Lily asked, eyes still slightly vacant.

"Well if you won't tell her then I wi-"

Lea broke of mid-sentence to stare as Amos Diggory hurried out of the Hall doors after his girlfriend.

"Now I wonder what he's doing." Lea said curiously, as Lily narrowed her eyes at his disappearing back.

            ~*~*~*~*~*

Sky walked along the hallway, on her way to Charms. Lily and Lea thought she was angry at them for putting down Amos, but it wasn't. If truth be told, it was Amos who had caused her to be so annoyed this morning. What her friends had said was true, Amos was a jerk. She knew that, although only for about two weeks now. 

_"No, I wanted to wait and he isn't pushing me. So stop telling me to dump him because he is really . . .sweet to me." _Well that had been true before, Sky sighed as she blinked back another tear.

She hadn't wanted to tell them, especially Lea who was so protective of her. She didn't want to see the I-told-you-so look in their eyes when she told them that Amos had hurt her physically. . . three times. She had really liked Amos, her feelings had been becoming quite deep when one night on the way back to the common room he had done it for the first time.

            ~*~

_Sky was walking along the corridor, coming back from the library. She had been studying for a test and had not realised the time. She was hurrying along when she heard footsteps behind her. Sky stopped and turned around, slightly nervous. She relaxed visibly when Amos Diggory walked out of the shadows and smiled at him._

_He didn't smile back._

_"Hi, what are you doing up late?_" _Sky had asked, stepping closer._

_Amos didn't answer, only swept her in a tight hug. She had been surprised but hadn't pulled away. After about two minutes of kissing though, Amos had started to get really aggressive. He had pushed her against the wall and she had dropped her books, still in the kiss. _

_"Amos. . ." she had warned quietly, trying to push him away._

_He had ignored her and it seemed like his aggressiveness only increased and Sky had begun to get scared. _

_"Amos, please!" she had whispered fiercely, trying to push him off again.__ Amos tried to pull her down against the wall. That was when she had slapped him away, finally breaking the contact and almost crying. _

_Amos' face hardened and he came towards her again. Sly gulped and walked backwards until she was pressed up against the wall. She would never forget the look in his eyes in that particular moment. _

_He slapped her on the face and she yelped in pain, sliding down the wall nursing her cheek._

_"Don't touch me you bitch." He had hissed before turning away with a whip of his robes. "If you tell anyone it'll be ten times as worse." He had called over his shoulder._

_She had remained there for almost twenty minutes afterwards, waiting for her tears and the red mark to go away. But the pain had never left._

~*~

Sky shuddered still, the first time had been the biggest shock but it hadn't been the worst. The second time was the worst and even after the third she didn't have the guts to tell anyone for fear of him hurting her worse. She could never tell anyone now. But on the third time she had had to cover up a few bruises, avoiding questions from Lea and Lily. 

She heard footsteps behind her. Familiar footsteps. Footsteps with a slight limp from when she had stepped on his leg after the third time. Sky gulped and walked faster, regretting the deserted shortcut she had taken.

She gasped as his strong hand gripped her shoulder tightly, wrenching it around roughly. She cringed automatically as she looking into Amos' crystal emotionless blue eyes, whimpering and clutching her bag.

"You didn't seem me last night." Amos said angrily.

Sky looked down nervously. "I told you before, I was tired." She said with more bravery than she felt.

SMACK. Sky clutched the side of her face in pain, standing there and not moving.

"Don't talk to me like that." He said, grabbing her arms and squeezing them tightly. Sky yelped as he bent them backwards slightly. He ignored her and didn't stop.

Suddenly she stopped squirming in his vice-like grip and looked at him squarely in the face and spitting into it. Amos' eyes widened in disbelief. 

SMACK. 

"How dare you, you stupid bitch?" he yelled, slapping her again. Sky fell on the ground sobbing as her last bit of bravery left her. He hit her again, and she cried out in pain. Then the blows were raining down on her, unstoppable and unmerciful. 

Then as suddenly as they had begun they stopped and she heard a muffled yell. She looked up to see Amos struggling with another guy, a guy who was definitely beating him thoroughly.

"You _sick_, twisted bastard." The guy said in between punches. Sky gasped when she recognised the unruly black hair and glasses. _James Potter?_ She thought in amazement.

"Apologise now." James said roughly, pulling a bloody Amos to his feet. 

Amos glared at Sky, who flinched and looked up into the angry eyes of James.

"Apologise you shit." James yelled.

"Sorry." Amos muttered, before James pushed him away. He cast a dark look at them before rushing down the hall, limping even more now. 

James' eyes softened as he took in Sky's trembling figure on the ground. 

"Are you alright?" he asked gently, as he helped her up.

Sky brushed the hair out of her eyes, smiling sadly up at him.

"I will be." She whispered, not meeting his eye.

"Mark my words," James said, lifting up her chin with his fingers and staring at her. "He will pay." James was looking at her pretty face with worry, just seeing now how attractive she was. Someone he would like to know better.

Sky stared at him for a second; taking in the honest emerald of his eyes and feeling so grateful she was finally free from Amos. James still looked worried so she nodded. And as she kept staring into those eyes, she realised she couldn't tear her own away. She looked at the person who she had always disliked until now and something registered in her brain.

She had a bit of a crush.

**[ So**** you probably hate me now. But hey, at least I've given you my word that I will finish this fic. I love it so I will. Now, I have a feeling that some of you are not liking Lily at the moment. Don't worry, there will be a ****LOT**** of character depth on her and she will get better. I promise! Now, review! Oh and I realise the chapters are quite short but don't worry, they will get longer.]**

**Thanks to: **Hippie-Banana, icyfire2, Moony9103, nikki, zeldagrl436, Silvercrystal77, Swishy Willow Wand, hp, snowman1400, lien, mwonw, Vicous Pixie, Aquarian Fire Tiger, Voldie On Varsity Track, LeilaniPotter, EvilSeamonkey, lover of good ff, ElvishGirl18, rebelchic, Cassi Angelica, Ceso, hpOracle, Danny, SchaffyTaffy15, LilyEvensPotter, ashlita, SMH, Lux Aeterna, avlrocks, Potterholicnumerouno, elp5089, outoftheordinary, emma, Lili, Daisi, cHoCoLaTeZ, Candy83, CasedVeela, Raine an Frodo, Dreamer, serendepetee, PsYcHoJo, Slam.

Isabelle Black – No, James isn't going to be jealous – but I think you can already tell that. Your English seemed fine to me =D Well, I like Mark too yet I feel bad for him already. He's gets more of a personality in later chapters. 

lilith witch – Yes you were rude. Quite frankly I think you're a little silly to be reviewing something you don't like and can't even give constructive criticism.  Believe it or not it is different to most l/j fics, so I don't know where you're coming from on that. I suggest you think about it.

Nesserz – so good to see a familiar face! I know hardly anyone on this fic so its good to reply to someone I know really well. Thanks for BETAing those chapters by the way again and I'm still looking forward to The-Fic-With-No-Name. 

Magic sparkle 1 – ooh another familiar face! Hope you're not angry that I updated this before WAM's sequel. I hope you stay with me on this fic too.

Shadyday9 – And another familiar face! That's three so far. Thanks for reviewing this fic so much and I am pleased that you think it's "kookookatchoo." As to your ranting about the evils of snow: you haven't changed my mind in the least – I still adore the snow! =D I'll swap for the beach any day. Although right now it is getting into winter so its getting cold but out winter is boring because we have no snow. 

Anonymous miss – wow thanks for putting me on your faves, it really means a lot to me! Thank you thank you thank you! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Orligrl – Ah, a fellow clown hater AND a person who thinks Ginny is a bit left out. I think this is beginning of a beauuutiful friendship. I will read your fanfic as soon as I get the change ok? School is taking over my life too much right now even though we're on holidays! 

Lovesickpuppy – I know, I am so sick of the same L/J's. Once in a while you will find a good one that is the same but since it is well written you'll still read it. One of my ex's is called Michael actually, I "damn him" too. 

Candy Cane Child – well you said it nicely so I can accept it. Someone else said something along the same lines and was downright rude. So thanks for being nice about it and I'm glad you think I'm not a bad writer.

Deer boy – good to see you, I would love it if you Fedexed me some snow, though it's probably warmer now and there is no snow left. Ah, I remember the good ole FedEx truck. Hope you stay with me on this fic as well as the sequel.

Lauren – if you don't like Lily than that's a bit tough because that is how she is for about half of this fic. If you don't like that hun, don't read it.

Luvhp224 – Is my writing in this fic really that different from What About Me? *is astonished* There you go, and I didn't even realise. Well, I'm glad the first chapter got your approval and I look forward to your opinion on this chapter. I must say the fuckwit bit is fairly amusing isn't it? I swear a fair bit in the sequel to WAM too. Hmm. Yeah, I do know this doesn't follow the canon in OotP but that was always the plan because that's what all the rest are like. Update P&P soon because I do enjoy reading it.

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